These are dark days, heavy with anguish. War has erupted in Ukraine, and each morning brings fresh reports of armed clashes, death, and destruction. The anguish cuts deeper when we think of civilians—so many people suffering, their lives turned upside down overnight without warning.
But this touches us because we see ourselves in them. We could be in their place. Our children could be among those we see in the news or hear about. Inside us, a mix of solidarity and fear collides: solidarity that so many have shown by offering shelter, money, medicine—but also fear. The unspoken question many feel is: "What if war reaches us? What if tomorrow I have to flee and leave everything behind?" We feel helpless. Against a threat like this, we have no defenses. Helping those escaping the war is something, but it's not enough. It doesn't end a war we recognize as madness—what Pope Francis has called a sacrilegio.
But for us believers facing such a tragedy, shouldn't there be something more we can do? In recent weeks, we've been called to prayer for peace many times. We've shared images, exchanged invitations, and some of us have taken part in vigils, peace marches, and prayer gatherings.
Ukraine is home to 39 Faith and Light communities. In these weeks, we've managed to stay in touch with Oksana and Ulyana, the two Faith and Light coordinators in Ukraine, who have kept us informed and invited us to pray with them and for them. Here in Italy, we've prayed and continue to pray for peace. Yet the war goes on. Innocent people keep suffering and dying. But does prayer for peace actually change anything?
I believe it does. Prayer can change things for two reasons. First, it can transform our own hearts and the way we see. Every war—from the smallest conflict to the most devastating—begins inside us, in our relationships, in how we stand before another person. That person becomes an enemy only if we fail to recognize them as brother or sister.
Prayer for peace also works because where we cannot reach and have no tools left to use, the power of the Holy Spirit arrives. It touches hearts, guides decisions, comforts those who suffer, and gives hope to those who cannot see a future. Scripture tells us, "Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). So today our prayer can do this: place in God's hands what we cannot control ourselves. Ask God to enter the rooms where the important decisions of this conflict are made. But above all, ask him to enter that room which is our own conscience, our heart, where good and evil, life and death, forgiveness and vengeance are locked in struggle.
Peace begins inside us, then spreads to all our relationships and choices. Peace can become contagious. But it is a task we must all take on—it cannot be handed off to anyone else, not even to God. He does his part, certainly. But he asks us to take responsibility for seeking and building peace every single day. If we don't build a small piece of peace each day, then even when this war ends, another will break out soon enough.